Kōkei (also Kogei; 皇慶: 977?–1049), the author of the ''

Enoshima Engi The ''Enoshima Engi'' (江嶋縁起) is a history of the temples and shrines on Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay. It was written in Chinese, the scholarly language of the time, by the Japanese Buddhist monk Kōkei in 1047 AD. The ''Enoshima Engi'' ...

'', was an eminent

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monk. He is said to have commenced his career as a monk at the age of seven, when he climbed

Mt. Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

to Enryakuji Monastery, one of the centers of

Japanese Buddhism Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185－1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...

. Kōkei is credited with the building of the Enryuji (円隆寺) Temple in Tango (丹後; ancient name for region to the north of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

on the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

) during the period 995–998. In the year 1003 AD, he boarded a vessel in an attempt to travel to

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to study Buddhism, however, the vessel was unable to depart, and he gave up that ambition. Around 1026, he left Enryakuji and built a thatched hermitage in the Tanba region north of Kyoto at Ikegami (池上). It is said to have been the predecessor of the Ikegami-in (池上院) sub-temple. In reference to this hermitage, he was also known as "Ikegami Ajari" (池上阿闍梨: "The Master-teacher of Ikegami"). He remained at Ikegami until he received a dream sent by the guardian deity of Enryakuji, who commanded him to return to Enryakuji. He died in Enryakuji at the age of seventy-seven (or seventy-three according to other sources). As the seventh generation disciple in a direct line from

Ennin , better known in Japan by his posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi (), was a priest of the Tendai school of Buddhism in Japan, and its third . Ennin was instrumental in expanding the Tendai Order's influence, and bringing back crucial training and ...

(圓仁), he was a learned monk who played an important role in the rise of the

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

sect. The ''

'', which he completed two years before his death, presented the goddess

Benzaiten is an East Asian Buddhism, East Asian Buddhist Dharmapala, goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the sixth through eighth centuries, mai ...

both as a protector of the state (in keeping with the Sutra of Golden Light) and as a savior of the people, thus expanding her role. He is also the author of ''Zuiyoki'' (随要記), a treatise on a consecration ceremony in which water is sprinkled on the head of a disciple by a master, thereby upgrading the disciple's status. He is considered the founder of the Tani school of

Taimitsu , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokei 970s births 1049 deaths Japanese Buddhist clergy Buddhist clergy of the Heian period Tendai Buddhist monks